Circle minted $500 million worth of USDC on the Solana network on April 29, capping a week in which Solana processed $3.25 billion in new USDC supply, according to on-chain intelligence firm Arkham. The move pushes Solana closer to commanding 10% of the total USDC supply, a threshold long dominated by Ethereum.
Solana Approaches 10% of USDC Supply
The Wednesday minting adds to an accelerating trend of USDC issuance on Solana, a network that historically lagged behind Ethereum in stablecoin circulation but is rapidly closing the gap. Solana now approaches a 10% share of the total USDC supply, a territory that has long been an exclusive domain of Ethereum.
USDC was initially launched on Ethereum and maintains most of its total supply there, but Circle has aggressively expanded the stablecoin's reach. The company recently launched a cross-chain bridge enabling native 1:1 USDC transfers across EVM networks, and has steadily increased its issuance pace on Solana throughout 2026. Unlike algorithmic stablecoins, each minted USDC is backed by an equivalent dollar held in reserve by Circle, meaning large minting events reflect real capital entering the ecosystem rather than artificial supply. The $500 million Wednesday represents institutional or commercial buyers converting dollars into USDC for on-chain deployment.
Broader Shift in Stablecoin Demand
Solana's expansion aligns with a wider market shift, as earlier this year USDC's adjusted transaction volume surpassed that of USDT, prompting Japanese banking giant Mizuho to raise its price target for Circle. That trend has gained further momentum as institutional users increasingly favor USDC's regulatory transparency and Circle's expanding settlement infrastructure.
Circle has reinforced the demand chain on multiple fronts. For instance, its CPN Managed Payments platform, launched in April, enables banks and payment service providers to settle in USDC without directly holding digital assets, thereby opening a new class of institutional buyers that bypass traditional crypto exchanges.
Regulatory clarity has also played a role, as decisions by the SEC and CFTC to classify SOL as a digital commodity have reduced institutional hesitation to build on Solana, indirectly boosting demand for on-chain dollar liquidity across the network. Whether Ethereum's structural advantage will hold as institutional capital continues to diversify across networks remains one of the key stablecoin questions of 2026.